Volume 20 Issue 2 September 2021 What’s Inside A Cross-Breeding Program That’s Hard To Beat
1
From The Gate Post - 2021 - A Year of Challenges and also Opportunities/ 2021 – Une année de défis mais également d’opportunités
10, 22
Breed Improvement — Culling Strategies/Stratégies de réforme
16, 26
Vet’s Advice — Thoughts about Vaccinations for our Cattle and People
22
What’s Happening
60
A Cross-Breeding Program That’s Hard To Beat Simmental have an excellent fit with Red Angus on Saskatchewan short grass prairie
T
Story By Lee Hart
he McKim family feels the crossbreeding program they’ve developed on their south-central Saskatchewan farm is right about where they want it to be producing excellent steers with decent weaning weights as they come off short grass prairie and good quality heifers that work well as replacements in their own herd and for other ranchers as well. The second generation RBD Ranch near Milestone, about 45 minutes south of Regina, is owned and operated by two brothers and their families — Dean and Karen McKim and Barry and Juanita McKim — whom have been working to develop their Red Angus and red Simmental cross bred herd for nearly 40 years. In particular they like the combination of growth and performance along with maternal traits that come with Simmental, says Dean McKim, noting the Simmental breed has done an excellent job in producing a moderate size cow that meets the need of a commercial beef producer.
Dean and Karen McKim and their children Karlie and Dustin
“I think the breed is right were it needs to be,” says McKim. “These cattle are good now. The cows are moderate size but yet they have a big mid-section and can handle the feed, and the bulls look like bulls. The breed has changed over the years, but right now they just need to keep doing what they’re doing with genetics.” McKim says for their operation extremes don’t Barry and Juanita McKim with their daughters work. As many commercial beef producers Nadya and Nicole and families found out 40 years ago, the tall, lanky full blood Simmentals weren’t suited for the Prairie ranching environment. Simmental breeders began working on more moderate sized cows, which could handle 90 to 100 pound birthweight calves. Then the solid coloured red and black genetics came along as well. Fitting into the category of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, McKim says the current genetics have an excellent fit with their program of producing market steers and replacement heifers. SECOND GENERATION RANCHERS
Publication Mail Agreement # 40012794
The McKim brothers were born and raised on the family farm that was started in 1957 by their parents Robert Kenneth and Gladys McKim. Dean and Barry joined the operation full time in 1978 and RBD Ranch began building the cattle and grain operation that today includes about 490 head of Red Angus/Simmental cross cows and 8,000 acres of durum, wheat and lentil crops. This year they kept about 120 heifer calves (often it has been as many as 200 head). About 90 head of heifers will be kept as their own
Commercial Country
continued on page 6